Dr. Edward Royston"Bud" Westmark1929-2017Dr. Edward Royston "Bud" Westmark, 87, of Pensacola, FL died Sunday, March 5, 2017. Bud was born on September 16, 1929 in Pensacola. He graduated from Pensacola High School in 1947 and Tulane University in 1952. He joined the Air Force in 1952, learned to fly B-25 Bombers, became a flight instructor, then an instructor's instructor. He married Ina Claire Mayo in 1953. He was honorably discharged from the Air Force as a First Lieutenant in 1956 with 7,424 flight hours. Bud crop dusted the summer of 1957 to earn money for med school. He graduated from the University of Florida Medical School's first graduating class in 1960. Bud started general practice in Jay in 1962, then began Pediatrics practice in Pensacola in 1966, becoming Board Certified in 1967. Bud teamed with Dr. Reed Bell, Dr. John Whitcomb and the Daughters of Charity to open the children's hospital at Sacred Heart Hospital in 1969. He helped found the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit in 1970, and was its director for over a decade. In 1975, Bud became one of the first Neonatologists in the country when he earned Board Certification in Neonatology after passing the first board exam ever offered, testing alongside the renowned researchers and academics who wrote the journals and textbooks he had studied.Bud first retired in 1991, but continued to work part time teaching young doctors and seeing patients at the Pediatric Ambulatory Care Clinic, until his second retirement in 2014.Bud's passions were outside activities, especially canoeing, backpacking, snow skiing and river rafting. He loved traveling, gardening, reading, playing his trumpet and eating dessert. He was a long-time member of East Hill Baptist Church.He was preceded in death by his parents, Samuel Edward Westmark and Alta Eloise Westmark; his brother, Glenn Wayne Westmark and his sister-in-law, Joyce Lambert Westmark.He is survived by his wife of 63 years, Claire Mayo Westmark; his sons, Scott (Kaye) Westmark and John (Carrie) Westmark; his grandchildren, Valerie, James, Laura and Jean; his brothers, David (Dori) Westmark and Ron (Faye) Westmark and many nieces and nephews.Visitation will be held at 9:45am Wednesday, March 8, 2017 at Harper-Morris Memorial Chapel followed by a Celebration of Life at 10:45am. Private family burial will be at Barrancas National Cemetery, with a reception afterwards for family.In lieu of flowers, please contribute to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) c/o Sacred Heart Foundation.Special thanks to the staff at Summer Vista Assisted Living, Regency Hospice and especially West Florida Home Health Care (Alice Biddle, Mary Catia, Barbara Clark, Priscilla Collins, Evelyn Cruz, Ida Gonzalez, Marie Groh, Andrea Parsons, Cathy Paxton, Liz Porter and Dottie Weber) for their compassionate care during the last years of Bud's life.Express your condolences in our guestbook at pnj.com/obits